Chef John Broening is pictured in this 2005 file photo. (Special to The Denver Post)

John Broening, a Denver chef and restaurateur, is taking over as executive chef at Le Grand – Bistro/Oyster Bar in downtown Denver. He started the new gig today. Robert Thompson, the Denver-based restaurateur who owns Le Grande, has also hired Broening to serve as Colorado culinary director for Seasoned Development, his restaurant company. Among other things, Thompson plans to bring Argyll back to Denver, probably in early 2014. The gastropub had a short run in Cherry Creek before closing in 2011.

“John has a lot of fans in town, but none bigger than me,” said Thompson on the phone Monday night. “I’m happy to have him back on board.”

The two have a history together. Broening worked at Thompson’s Brasserie Rouge near Coors Field, from its opening in 2002 until the place shuttered, just 13 months later.

“John went on to have a great career, has owned his own restaurants, won other awards,” said Thompson. Broening owned Olivea, in Uptown, which shuttered last year. And he currently owns Spuntino in Highland. Thompson said Broening will continue to own Spuntino.

Broening also writes a column for The Denver Post’s Food section.

Broening is overhauling Le Grand’s menus, said Thompson. The new dinner menu gets unveiled on Thursday, and in the next few weeks the transformed lunch and brunch menus will launch.

“French food has been a passion for me since I was very young. I grew up in France, worked there early in my career,” said Broening in a news release. “What French people eat is much lighter, fresher, more vegetal and a lot less fussy than the popular stereotype. At Le Grand, I look forward to cooking the everyday food that French people eat.”

The new menus will change with the seasons, with the Mediterranean flavors of Provence – tomatoes, lamb, olives, artichokes, goat cheese, olive oil – dominating during the summer. Brittany and Normandy’s apples, crepes, and mussels will get showcased during fall, and in winter, expect more from regions like Burgundy, Perigord and Alsace Lorraine: coq au vin, duck confit, cassoulet, and choucroute.

Broening and Lozada-Hissom took over the cooking duties at the ice cream shop-cum-restaurant on W. 32nd Ave. in March. The result, a totally charming place to have supper. (Disclosure: Broening writes for this newspaper.)

The menu is humane — just a few things to choose from, so deciding doesn’t feel like a task. You could make a meal of the starters, which include a full board of bruschette — think guanciale (cured but unsmoked pork cheeks) with stracchino cheese, salt-cod brandade with black olives and lemon — plus a country pate that’s every bit as good as you expect a country pate made by the Francophilic Broening to be: Multifaceted but cohesive, with an array of delicate textures and soul-warming flavors. Served with bread, pickled onions, mustard and, naturally, butter. Because who doesn’t want a slather butter with pate? This, before a dish of pork meatballs on polenta, or a flatiron steak with chimichurri.

Before “Uncle!” comes Lozada-Hissom’s unmissable desserts. They include gelatos and an elegant olive oil-citrus cake, but if you skip the Chocolate Crunch Bar, well, then you’ve skipped Denver’s dessert of the moment. For shame, because it is a marvel.